Thriller & Mystery > Thriller Thriller & Mystery > J

Advantages: Real characters, perfect pace, coherent soundtrack
Disadvantages: Some rather sketchy scenes

Seriously. Screw The Italian Job. Screw The Great Train Robbery. Screw Oceans Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen whatever! Two things - texture and pace. Neil Jordan's The Good Thief is for me, by far, the best addition to a very weary genre, cliched by the usual immaculately-dressed hoodlums with unbelievably smooth lines and unbelievably advanced gadgets. While every heist movie tries to be cleverer than the previous one, along comes this delightful flick, ...
...excessively charming characters like the George Clooneys and Brad Pitts of Oceans fame. Here we have amongst others, a down-and-out heroin addict, a Bosnian whore, her jealous small-time gangster lover, her possessive pimp and a sympathetic police officer. No character is the epitome of evil nor the pinnacle of virtue and this I feel is a true reflection of real people in the shady world. Nick Nolte is all too perfect in these roles for a reason ... Read review

Advantages: Brilliant acting.
Disadvantages: Very slow...

...David Kirmani, a doctor. The couple are deeply in love, and appear to have a beautiful future ahead of them… until one night, out walking the dog, they are attacked by three men. The attack is so incredibly brutal and savage that David ends up dying from his wounds, and Erica is left unconscious for nearly three weeks. When she finally wakes up, it will be to discover that David is dead and that she missed his funeral. Devastated, she returns home ...
...make sense of the nightmare she has been plunged into. For the first time in her life, Erica feels fear. Where once she used to love the city and walk the streets without any fear whatsoever, she now feels only terror and anguish. Afraid that she'll be attacked again, she manages to purchase an illegal gun and keeps it with her at all times… which is fortunate, because one evening, when she enters her local shop to purchase something to drink, an ... Read review

Advantages: Interesting plot, good acting.
Disadvantages: None.

...will try not to spoil the viewing for you, but I do need to give you a short synopsis. Jodie plays a radio host called Erica Bain. She lives in an upmarket New York apartment, has a loving fiance who is a doctor, attends art galleries, takes the dog for walks in Central Park, all in all, lives a pretty nice life. One summer evening she and her fiance, David (Naveen Andrews), go for a long walk with their dog in the park when they are confronted ...
...beating (and filming the attack) them. What follows is a mercifully short, but extremely violent scene where David ends up being killed and Erica is beaten into a coma. Here we see a really interesting piece of quite innovative cinematography, as Erica is being treated and having her body checked for injuries, her clothes removed, we see flashbacks of her intimacy with David, which is clearly her beaten brain trying to cope. She wakes 3 weeks later ... Read review

Advantages: The performances are better than the film deserves.
Disadvantages: Formulaic in the extreme, hackneyed writing and direction.

...David. But tragedy strikes when the couple are attacked and savagely beaten by a gang of thugs in Central Park. After three weeks in a coma Erica comes round only to discover David is dead and the killers are still on the loose. She buys a gun illegally for protection and kills a man when she's caught up in a store robbery. Before she knows it, her moral compass has gone awry and she takes to settling issues with brute force. This new vigilante on ...
...the press and Erica must decide if her need for vengeance can override her humanity. For every good Neil Jordan film, there seem to be two or three bad ones and sadly this effort falls into the latter camp. He's a director capable of great subtlety and pathos. But once in a while he turns into the worst kind of hack director, using every cliché in the book. So it is with this film where Erica and David have the most perfect and syrupy relationship ... Read review

Advantages: Good attempt at a look on modern insanity and good plot
Disadvantages: Does not quite work

...idea an analysis of insanity in the form of a popular movie with a popular subject matter. But despite good performances from all the stars and a good script and plot line, the film fails to really absorb you. I cannot put my finger on what it is, but something makes this film fail. Perhaps it is the shallow flirtation with Clare’s madness, or the fact that we have all seen serial killer films and it is a tired genre. Robert Downey Jr, gives ...
...has well and truly screwed up. But the film still does not hit the spot; if you can tell me why, please do because I am puzzled. There are some fresh ideas, good acting, but no…. The dreams/visions Clare has do at times create a real atmosphere of suspense, but that is not enough and at times, vision/dream and real life become confused. I would not rush to watch this and it is adapted from a book which may be better, average film, one to watch ... Read review